[Pharmwaste] RE: Concerns over recycling pill bottles?

Tue Aug 19 16:46:39 EDT 2014

>From a poison control perspective (and I do 'take backs' too), asking consumers to pour all of their meds together in a container is a bad idea.  This removes any child resistant protections that were present.  Often, people who think they will be going to a 'take back' forget or otherwise miss the event.  If that mixture is then accessed by a child, or even an adult, we'd be hard pressed to determine what was taken.  I'd also hate for someone with a "bag of mixed pills" to be pulled over by law enforcement and not be able to show that those pills were generated from a legitimate prescriptions; especially if controls are present.

Having tried to take labels off of bottles, I can say that in many cases this is next to impossible.  With our program, we use paint pens rather than "markers" or "Sharpies" to obscure names, but we also then include the bottles in incineration.  Although we go to great lengths to protect patient names (and Rx numbers), I still have seen no definitive language that HIPAA pertains in this instance as we do not, in my opinion, establish a patient/provider relationship at a 'take back' event.

I am certainly not an expert on pill bottle recycling, but my understanding is that due to the type of plastic used in many of the bottles, it's not an easy task to take on discriminating which can/can not be recycled.  If you then have to decide which ones contained P-listed meds and have those triple rinsed and remove labels, it becomes prohibitive in many cases.  I'd venture to say most consumers wouldn't go to such lengths.

Just my two cents...

Jeanie Jaramillo, PharmD
Managing Director, Texas Panhandle Poison Center
Asst. Professor, Texas Tech UHSC School of Pharmacy
1300 S. Coulter St., Suite 105
Amarillo, TX 79106
(office): (806)414-9299
(mobile): (806)376-0039

________________________________
From: Ed Gottlieb [EGottlieb at cityofithaca.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2014 2:24 PM
To: Lucy, Burke at CalRecycle; 'pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us'
Subject: [Pharmwaste] RE: Concerns over recycling pill bottles?

Lucy,

Yes, this concern came up in my community.

There is no problem in recycling almost all prescription bottles as is.  We strongly recommend that prescription labels be removed.  The only recycling issue is for containers that contain a residue of a P-listed hazardous waste medication (primarily warfarin.)  See below for the EPA's take on this, issued in Nov 2011.

It is fine for folks to mix all their pills in a sealed plastic bag for drop-off. We did ask for pills in their original containers back when we inventoried what was dropped off.  Now that the DEA won't let us do that, there is no reason for the bottles to come to us.  Much better to have them recycled by the end user.

At one event, we had extra volunteers and recycled the majority of the bottles we received, after inventory data was collected.  To meet HIPAA requirements, we removed the labels.  A nurse told us that using a black marker to obscure personal information might not meet HIPAA requirements.  Doing this was a huge effort, so I recommend getting folks to recycle there own.

Here is what the EPA has to say about the packaging for pharmaceuticals that are hazardous waste (P-waste), which account for an extremely small percent of the pharmaceuticals that are dispensed.   Note that the concern is strictly with any "residue" left in the bottle, not with the bottle itself.  The bottom line is that even these bottles can be recycled if they are first triple rinsed.

Regards,

Ed
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________________________________
From: pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us [pharmwaste-bounces at lists.dep.state.fl.us] on behalf of Lucy, Burke at CalRecycle [Burke.Lucy at CalRecycle.ca.gov]
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 4:06 PM
To: 'pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us'
Subject: [Pharmwaste] Concerns over recycling pill bottles?

Hi all,

Has anyone heard of any concerns over recycling pill bottles because of the residue left behind by medications?

Otherwise, I’ve only heard of problems because the plastic bottle is typically #5 Polypropylene and the cap is usually not.  Combined with any cotton, paper label, or foil residue, it makes recycling pill bottles difficult at least without separating the cap from the bottle.  This article out of Wisconsin is the first I’ve heard of medication residue being any problem:

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/some-confused-about-new-drug-drop-off-boxes/article_43201f36-a403-524e-b9b9-055e8b410cd9.html.
Some confused about new drug drop-off boxes
August 16, 2014 12:15 am
Crystal Sedevie, “a Holmen police investigator who serves on an area task force relating to prescription drug abuse” said, “Old plastic bill bottles shouldn’t even be recycled…because of the residue left behind by medications.”

Burke

Mr. Burke Lucy
Environmental Scientist
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
1001 I Street, PO Box 4025
Sacramento, CA 95812
Burke.Lucy at CalRecycle.ca.gov<mailto:Burke.Lucy at CalRecycle.ca.gov>
916.341.6592
[California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)]<http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/>
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